The Law
by forgetablelove
Summary: A new kind of twist on the Marriage Law fics. When a new law is pasted by the Ministry of Magic, Severus Snape finds himself with two weeks to find a wife. SSxHG


Severus Snape looked around himself, feeling slightly confused. _Why would the Minister of Magic issue a law that he alone had two weeks to marry?_ He was shocked. He just stared at the letter. It had arrived moments before, but the owl had already taken off indicating that the sender didn't expect a reply. He reread the words printed on the page slower, hoping he had missed something the first two times:

_Dear Mr. Snape,_

_I, the Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, regret to inform you that a newly passed law entitled the Marriage Law has now made it unlawful for you to remain single any longer. You must find a wife within the next two weeks or face the consequences of breaking the law (which may range from a simple fine,time in Azkaban, or even to banishment from the Wizarding world). The wedding must be official by British and Wizarding World law by Tuesday, October 31._

_Respectfully,_

_Rufus Scrimgeour_

_Minister of Magic_

Snape shook his head, folded the letter back in its envelope and tossed it on a nearby table. _It must a joke_, he decided, trying to ignore the official letterhead and the Ministry's cold way of handling relations with it's residents glaring back at him.

Two days passed, and by then the letter was almost completely forgotten. Severus hadn't mentioned the letter to anyone, and no new law was mentioned, so he decided it was a very juvenile joke from someone and a very poorly done one at that.. He was sitting at his desk in the dungeons of Hogwarts when an owl flew in the door of this classroom. The brown bird dropped on his desk and waited for him to unattached the letter from its leg before flying out the door where he came.

Severus slowly opened up the letter. It was a letter from the Minister of Magic again. Severus rolled his eyes as he read:

_Mr. Snape,_

_It has come to our attention that you may not be taking this new law seriously and are making every attempt at finding a wife before October 31. Please be aware that action will be taken if you do not comply._

_In order to assure you successfully find a wife in due time, please come to the lobby of the Ministry of Magic October 20 at seven o'clock._

_Respectfully,_

_Rufus Scrimgeour_

_Minister of Magic_

Severus couldn't do anything to suppress his laughter. He let himself laugh at the joke of a letter with bitter sarcasm. _What kind of fool does this person find me?_ he asked himself as he tossed the letter into his garbage with boredom. He turned back to grading the essays on the Babbler potion he had the third years write.

"Professor Snape?" a voice asked from the doorway. Severus turned quickly to see Hermione Granger, a former student turned colleague, starring at him from the doorway.

"What do you want, Miss Granger?" he asked with irritation as he turned back to the essays.

He heard her sigh and start to enter his classroom.

"That wasn't an invitation," he responded harshly.

She didn't stop. She walked up to his desk and stared at him. Silently. He could feel her eyes burning as she glared at him.

He sighed. He looked up at her and said, "What?"

"Couldn't you be more polite?" she demanded.

"Can you?" he shot back without much feeling or thought.

She sighed heavily. "I was just wondering why you're still here?"

"What?" he demanded as a cold, bitter anger slowly flooded over him. "Do I not _belong_ here?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes, reminding him of the child she once was. "No. That's not what I mean. Don't you ever read the Daily Prophet?"

"Not anymore," he told her and turned back to his work.

When she didn't leave he glanced back up at her. "Is there something else?"

"So you don't know?" she asked with great curiosity.

"Out with it, Miss Granger, or leave."

"About the law. The Marriage Law?"

He froze for a moment, feeling his anger build. "You're part of that joke then? Well, Miss Granger, I can tell you that I didn't believe it for a moment. It was actually quite a pathetic attempt and I really would expect better from you."

"Excuse me? What joke?"

"Don't play dumb. Or innocent. Neither has ever suited you well. The fake letters informing me about the law. They were fake; it was a joke. I'm not dumb. Now you can leave." He turned back down to grading the essays. When she didn't move immediately for the door he snapped back up. "I said go."

"Professor Snape, it's not a joke," she said quickly and quietly.

Feeling his patience was coming to an end, he stood up. "Please leave, Miss Granger. The joke is over. And it wasn't very well done. Collect whatever joy you can still get out of it and leave."

Professor Granger stared at him for a moment with a cold fierceness to her eyes and stance that almost made him disappointed that she was his former student. She turned on her heel without another word and strode out of his classroom. He shook his head and resumed grading the essays.

Only a few moments had passed when he heard the echoing footsteps of someone coming back down the steps leading to his classroom. He didn't respond to the person until they had walked into his classroom, without his acknowledgement, and was standing in front of his desk.

"What," he started as he turned to glare up at the intruder, "brings you here again without so much as a knock on the door of my classroom?"

Professor Granger glared down at him. Without a word, she slammed a copy of the Daily Prophet on his desk. "A joke, sir?" she asked with the bitterest sarcasm lacing her _almost_ pleasant sounding voice.

He glanced down at the paper and the headline read with big, bold letters "New Law: The Marriage Law." Severus felt a cold shock run through his body slowly before he pushed it aside and looked back up at the woman standing before his desk. "A joke," he confirmed as he moved the issue so he could continue grading without another word.

"The Daily Prophet doesn't help people with juvenile and pathetic jokes," she stated without flinching at his denial.

"But someone can print up fake copies of the Daily Prophet. Why they would take such a poor joke so far is beyond me, but I've know my fair share of heartless, humorless people." He shrugged as he continued to grade.

"Snape," she started in an annoyed voice, "not everyone is out to get you, you know? There are some people who care."

"Like who? You?" he threw back in a sarcastic voice.

"Like me," she agreed. In a swift motion she grabbed the Daily Prophet from his desk and headed for the door.

"Don't play jokes, Miss Granger. You're a professor; you should have more dignity," he advised from behind the desk.

This time as she left the classroom she slammed the dungeon door.

Severus went to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning and immediately noticed the odd looks he was receiving. He shrugged it off and sat at the staff table.

Someone slid into the chair beside him and said, "Here's the fresh Daily Prophet. It's not on the front page, but it is on page 10. Look." The bushy haired woman slid a copy of the newspaper in front of him blocking his plate.

"I don't feel like playing your games this early in the morning, Miss Granger. Go away!" he responded and pushed the paper away.

"Professor Snape, I hope you go to Azkaban," she whispered acidly to him before she got up.

Severus found himself confiscating a copy of the newest Daily Prophet from a student during his first class while the class tried to brew a Forgetfulness potion. After roaming the classroom and pointing out the simple, and not so simple, mistakes that some of his students made he sat behind his desk. He flipped through the newspaper paper and found himself staring at an article on page 10:

The newly established Marriage Law has created uproar in parts of the Wizarding society. While some wizards and witches find it harmless or maybe helpful; others find it distasteful. "The fact that someone must be married by a certain age or suffer consequences by the Ministry is unjust," one witch spoke out, "We never had a problem before. So why now? This isn't the Middle Ages!"

Snape stopped reading and set down the paper. _So it's true_, he thought to himself. _It's not a joke._ Snape couldn't believe the fact he actually felt shocked at this. The shock evaporated when an explosion rocked him out of his reverie. He scanned the room and found a student's cauldron's on fire, and the fire was issuing a green smoke. "You added the werewolf hair too soon, didn't you?" he almost shouted at the student.

The whole last looked taken back by his volume. He normally scolded in a soft, cold voice instead of yelling. He found it had more effect on the students in the long run.

"Yeah," the student whispered meekly.

Snape waved his wand in the direction of the cauldron and the fire and continents vanished. "Start over," he commanded the student slowly.

"Sir, there won't be enough time," the student started to argue.

"I said, Start over," Snape repeated coldly.

The student begrudging gathered the ingredients he needed to make the potion again.

Snape debated with himself about actually showing up to the lobby, but he decided he had to. If this wasn't some pathetic attempt at a joke, which it seemed less and less likely to be, he knew he had to comply. He hardly thought he would receive a stint in Azkaban if he didn't follow the new law, but he didn't really want to risk it either. However, he didn't fancy marriage either.

He couldn't believe how many older men and women had gathered in the lobby that day. _Coincidence_, he tried to reason with him to hang onto the hope it was all a practical joke. The men and women seemed to be wearing dress robes, though, which lead to the thought they were there for a special reason. _A convention,_ he tried to tell himself.

The men and women, dressed in their finest, seemed to be avoiding each other. Groups of women could be spotted, but most everyone was standing alone looking unsure of what they were doing there and what they were supposed to be doing. Snape decided to join the silent but massive group that was gathered by the information counter. No one greeted him as he walked over. A few witches scanned him from head to toe before looking away, as if disgusted.

"Professor Snape, you came!" a voice cut through the silence from behind him.

He turned around to find Professor Granger looking back at him. She was dressed in her normal black teaching robes, which stood out above the colors of dress robes surrounding them.

"Miss Granger."

"I didn't think you'd come," she said uneasily, but directly. She smiled pleasantly.

"Is this a funeral?" Snape asked rudely.

Professor Granger, for a brief moment, looked surprised by his blunt question, but quickly over came it. "Ha ha," she mocked without humor, "It's not a funeral. It's the gathering."

Severus looked the girl questioningly, "The gathering?"

"Well, not 'the' gathering. Just a gathering. Of those who are affected by the Marriage Law," she explained awkwardly. She seemed uncomfortable.

"This blasted Marriage Law again," he muttered purposely.

"Isn't that the reason you're here?" she asked in confusion.

"Does it look like that's the reason I'm here?" he retorted.

"Well, I had assumed…" She looked both surprised and confused, and Snape felt satisfaction that he could cause such a reaction in the know-it-all. "If you're not, may I ask why you're here?"

Her innocent, but predictable, question took Snape by surprise. For some reason, he hadn't expected the question and had no response thought of already. "I'm here… for a meeting," he answered quickly.

She titled her head as if she was thinking about whether she should believe him or not. She shrugged. "Have a good day then." She turned to leave and Snape felt compelled to reach other and touch her arm to stop her. She turned back around to face him slowly. "What?"

"Why are _you_ here?" Snape asked her. He didn't see how she, at her young age, could be affected by this law.

She looked down and away from Snape for a moment. He could tell she was thinking of a response.

"Don't answer me," he said harshly. "I can tell it would be a lie." Without another word, he turned and walked away from her.

The rest of the day passed by in a slow, agonizing blur to Severus. He mingled more than he ever had in his entire life. The point of the gathering was to find a witch or wizard to marry to comply with the law. _The system was full of flaws,_ Severus thought when he entered his dungeon classroom the next morning. All the day and night before he wondering why Professor Granger had been at the Ministry of Magic. He knew he shouldn't care, but he still wondered. When he went to breakfast in the Great Hall that morning he had only seen her leaving. It was as if she saw him come in and then leave as soon as possible. But Severus knew that couldn't be true.

His classes that day went by as slowly as ever before. The highlight of his day was to go through one class where the students were brewing a potion and had no problems. Everyone seemed to be looking forward to the Halloween Feast even though it was over a week away.

Directly after the last student for the day left, a white owl flew in through the door. Snape pulled off the note attached to its leg and half expected it to fly away immediately. The owl didn't move. Snape, annoyed, unrolled the note and read:

_Professor Snape,_

_Please meet me in the library after dinner._

_Respond by owl._

It wasn't signed. He looked back at the owl; the owl looked back at him as if to tell him he wouldn't leave without a reply. Quickly he scribbled down a reply and tied it on the owl's leg. He watched as the owl swooped out the door with grace.

Snape went to the Great Hall for dinner later than normal. He looked around to see if anyone was missing, or if anyone seemed to be leaving earlier than usual, but everyone looked relaxed and in no hurry. Miss Granger was talking in an animated conversation with Minvera who was listening intently to whatever the girl was going on about. The other professors were also in conversations with each other seeming oblivious to their surrounds and the students.

Snape was the first person to leave the staff table and wondered absently who had sent him the note. When he reached his quarters he was surprised to see an owl waiting on the other side of the window. The owl pecked against the glass once he entered the room to his attention to open the window. Snape, shaking his head with annoyance, walked over and opened the window and left the owl fly in. The owl settled on the ledge and Snape untied the note, and watched as the owl took off out the window again.

Snape was surprised when he read the note:

_I knew you wouldn't show._

Snape shook his head. He waved his wand at his fireplace and fire immediately started. Snape thought about throwing the two confusing notes into the fire, but decided against it. He took the note from before out his pocket and dropped both on his desk.

Slowly, and with great ease, he stretched out on his bed with a book to read. He sighed as he stared at the words on the page without trying to actually read them.

There was a soft knock on the door. He turned toward the door, but didn't answer. _I'm not here,_ he tried to project the thought to the person on the other side.

The person knocked again, harder. When they received no response again, they knocked even harder. Snape sighed. Reluctantly he got up and opened the door.

An annoyed looking Professor Granger stood on the other side. "Finally," she greeted with him annoyance.

"Excuse me?" he questioned with an edge.

"It took you long enough to answer the door," she responded.

"Maybe I didn't want to," he told her in a cold voice.

"Well, that's dumb. Who knows whom it could have been? It might be important."

"It's not important; it's you. So if you'll excuse me…" he began to shut the door again, but she brought her hand out to stop it.

Looking irritated, she blocked the door and said, "I _am_ important. And what I have to say _is_ important."

"That's what you think."

"Can I come in?" He looked at her intently before shaking his head. She softened, looking slightly embarrassed, "don't make me say it in hall."

"Why not?" he asked her with curiosity.

"Please, don't make me say it in the hall," she repeated pleadingly.

"Why not?" he repeated, unflinchingly.

She looked at him with determination in silence. Sighing heavily, he stepped back to allow her entrance. He vaguely noticed she was getting her way and her visits were becoming more frequent.

"Thank you," she acknowledged as she stepped into his private room.

"Now, what do you want, Hermione?" he asked with annoyance at her invasion.

"I just wanted to see how your search was going." She sat down on the edge of his bed and stared up at him. She looked at ease in his private chambers and for some reason, it didn't annoy him as much as he thought it should. He found himself finding her less annoying the more time he spent with her.

"My search?" he asked as he shut the door absentmindedly.

"For a wife."

Her blunt statement made Severus freeze. Truthfully, he hadn't been trying and he certainly hadn't been thinking about it. "I'm not searching," he answered truthfully.

"Are you serious? Professor Snape, they sent someone to Azkaban this morning!"

"It's not the 31st yet," he informed her.

"You got to the 31st? Well, some only had until the 2lst," she informed him as matter-of-factly.

"How do you know?"

"The Daily Prophet. You should read it!" she explained in an exasperated tone.

"It's just a silly newspaper," he responded offhandedly.

"You should be looking. You shouldn't be teaching until you find someone," she advised him seriously.

"You really think that?" he asked, amused that she seemed so sure of herself.

"You don't want to go to Azkaban, do you?"

"Not particularly, and I highly doubt I will."

"This is serious! I can't believe I'm taking this more serious than you are!" She looked at him with blazing brown eyes.

"Why _are_ you taking it so seriously?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes.

"I… Um… Er… It's just… I don't want to see you… I don't want you… I don't want you to go to prison!" she fumbled with her response. She looked from him, obviously embarrassed by her small confession.

"You like bothering me that much?" he asked without thinking.

Her head snapped up and her eyes were wide. "Bothering you, am I?" She stood up and with one last furious look at Severus, she walked back across the room. "I should go then. I hope you enjoy Azkaban," she whispered him in a cold, angry, hurt voice.

She hadn't even opened the door when he spoke, "Why do you care?"

She stopped. "I don't care."

"Then why are you here?" he asked in a reasonable voice.

"I don't know," she said in a small voice before pulling the door open and leaving.

He watched her leave without stopping her and felt confused at the conversation. He couldn't understand why it mattered to him that she cared. She didn't hide the fact that she cared very well, but he didn't understand why she wouldn't admit it to herself.

Four days passed without a word between them, and Snape felt disappointed. He knew she was avoiding him, but he didn't understand why. Against his own instincts, he heeded her advice and started to read the Daily Prophet daily. Over 400 wizards and witches had already married under the law, but over 50 had gone to prison for not complying.

Snape felt a small feeling of impending doom as each day passed without him trying to find a wife. He didn't like the idea of marriage, but he also didn't like the idea of Azkaban. He knew that he wouldn't be able to find a wife to comply with the law while teaching so discreetly he went to Minerva, the Headmistress, and asked for a leave of absence. She obviously knew his reasoning and granted him permission readily. The law obviously did not affect Minerva, and Severus didn't have time to ask her why.

When Severus arrived in London, he thought about going back to Hogwarts immediately. Or to Spinner's End, but he acquired a room at the Leaky Cauldron and roamed both the streets of Muggle London and of Diagon Alley to try to find a suitable candidate. He was surprised, even though he knew he shouldn't have been, to find other wizards and witches doing the same thing. In fact it was no longer strange for a complete stranger to approach you and ask your name and age if necessary. He was approached randomly four times but as soon as he told the women his name, they found an excuse to leave. He knew he wasn't well liked in the wizard community, though he wasn't aware of how much or to what extent.

Four days passed without any luck, and he was about ready to give up and go back to Hogwarts when a young witch walked up to him. He was looking down and the first thing he saw were her legs. Professor Granger stood right in front of him. She looked determined and nervous at the same time. Snape allowed himself to admit it was a pretty combination on her.

"Having any luck?" she asked without preamble.

"With what?" he asked her even though he knew full well what she meant.

"Finding a wife." She looked around with a disgusted look at her face.

"Oh that. No. I'm actually heading back to Hogwarts tonight," he told her honestly.

"What about the law?" she asked him with a shocked look on her face.

"I'll live with the consequences." He turned away but her place her hand gently on his arm. "Was there something else?"

"Yes…" He turned to look at her and was surprised by the look at her face. She looked at him with an expression that was soft, feminine, and determined at the same time. She didn't explain what else she wanted right away so he patiently waited. She looked nervous and unsure of herself. "I just…don't want to see you go to Azkaban."

She acted as though it was one of the hardest thing she had to say, yet she had said it before. "You already told me that," Snape said insensitively.

"I mean…. What I mean is… that I really don't want to see you go. In fact… if it'll keep you out I'll--"

He stopped her before she could continue, "Are you asking me to marry you?" He looked at her with complete shock. He was surprised to notice that he didn't feel any disgust at the thought of her as his wife.

"Look, Professor Snape," she started, "you aren't going to get any other offers." She looked at with him new determination and a bit of annoyance. Her soft demeanor had vanished in a moment.

"What if I don't accept?" he questioned.

"You'll go to Azkaban."

"And if I do accept…" he prompted.

"You'll marry me. You'll be a law-abiding citizen. And you'll stay at Hogwarts," she stated.

"I'll think about it," he said coldly as he turned away. He could see her gnashing her teeth and fuming behind his back.

"Now or never," she said angrily.

He turned back around at looked at her intently. It was obvious that she was completely serious. He could also see a small bit of hurt in her eyes.

"Fine. Should we find someone to marry us now?," Snape agreed grudgingly, and started to look around.

Hermione grinned and threw her arms around him. Before he could protest she pulled him down and brought her lips to his to share their first kiss.

Severus sat up abruptly. A small coat of sweat covered his brow and his breathing was quick. _Getting kissed by Granger is a nightmare in itself_. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up.

Later that day as he sat in his office grading papers, he heard someone say, "Professor Snape?" from the doorway.

He turned to see Hermione standing there like she had in his dream. He felt an odd feeling of deja-vu.

"What, Miss Granger?"

She sighed and walked into the classroom.

"That wasn't an invitation."

He noticed that Hermione only smiled.


End file.
